Meet The Carbonauts

“We really say we are in the business of behavior change,” says Meaghan O'Neill, who’s spent the better part of the past two decades working to help people live more sustainably. Around the year 2000, O’Neill, who was writing on the architecture and design space, saw sustainability begin to take a more prominent role in those fields — something she describes as the start of the “modern eco-movement.” Over the next few years, her interest in sustainable design and architecture deepened, and in 2004, she began working with entrepreneur Graham Hill, who was launching Treehugger.com. 

Treehugger became one of the most influential green living blogs-turned-websites in the world, and both O’Neil and Hill remained through the company’s acquisition by Discovery Communications. But in 2019, Hill, whom O’Neill calls a “serial entrepreneur,” wanted to create something new, something that bridged the gap between awareness and action. “Environmental awareness is very, very high right now — much higher than it was 20 years ago. There’s data to show that … However, awareness is going up, but so are carbon parts per million in the atmosphere, so what's the disconnect?” asks O’Neill.

They set off to find out, launching thecarbonauts.com in the summer of 2020, with Hill serving as founder and CEO and O’Neill as director of content. The cornerstone of The Carbonauts’ programming is live, virtual workshops that educate people on how to reduce their carbon footprints in under six weeks. From the start, The Carbonauts’ goal is to get 25% of the population to reduce their carbon output. Once this happens, they believe, a tipping point will be reached, and governments and corporations will pave the way for the rest of society to move to a net-zero, sustainable way of life. (Behavioral science research shows when 25% of a population starts to adopt views or behaviors, they become mainstream.) “You change, we change, systems change,” O’Neill says.

Though the company initially intended to deliver either one-hour classes or multi-week courses to individuals, they pivoted to primarily delivering the workshops to corporations. “We quickly realized that our sweet spot was teaching inside of big corporations,” O’Neill says. Soon, Carbonauts workshops were available inside Amazon, Chanel, News Corp, Toyota, AT&T, Warner Brothers, Discovery, Netflix, Dow Jones, and HarperCollins. The Carbonauts’ flagship workshop, “The Big Six,” breaks down the six most impactful things an individual can do to reduce their footprint: increasing energy efficiency at home, shifting toward a plant-rich diet, driving/shifting towards electric vehicles, reducing the amount you fly/flying more efficiently, investing in carbon offsets for the parts of your footprint that you can't reduce by behavior alone, and shifting social norms by understanding your influence.

But The Carbonauts’ courses are not just for corporations. Anyone can sign up for multi-week workshops or one-off courses that include “The Personal Sustainability Plan,” “The Climate Friendly Closet,” and “Food Waste & Composting 101.” The Carbonauts aim to start from a grassroots level, with the hope that actions taken by individuals culminate in cultural transformation within their companies and communities. 

Lael Giebel, a director of global sustainability for a tech company, was convinced that she was living sustainably, citing her home’s solar panels, rain barrels, and compost. She took “The Big Six” course to determine whether it would be a good fit for her employees. Instead, she says, “I picked up things through every part of it, which was thrilling to me because you go around like, ‘Oh yeah, I know this stuff,’ but I definitely realized I had some blindspots.”

For instance, Giebel learned not only how carbon intensive air travel is, but also that she can be proactive ahead of flying to make better choices. These include reviewing emission estimates when choosing flights (many booking engines, airlines and Google Flights offer this information, and there are also online flight emissions calculators) and buying carbon offsets (Giebel does so directly through The Carbonauts, but they’re widely available). “You can actually choose a different flight to the same location and compare the footprint, compare the emissions … that was a really powerful tool.” She also learned it is exponentially better to fly direct as takeoffs and landings account for a substantial part of the flight’s total emissions. She’s shared this “with like 100 of my best friends,” who, she says, now also compare emissions before booking. And nearly 30 of her employees who have taken “The Big Six” course now take similar steps in their own lives, from traveling wisely to composting to observing Meatless Mondays.

The goal of the workshops, O’Neill says, is to meet people where they are, not judge or shame their current practices. It’s not all or nothing, but instead about making meaningful change where possible. “We're really good at helping people hone in on what works for them within their personal circumstances,” she says. “Your location may affect that. Your budget may affect that. Your lifestyle may affect that. You might have a spouse that doesn't agree with spending the same way that you do. You might own your house or you may rent it. You may have a family. You might have dietary restrictions. You might live in the city. You might live in the country. These are all things that affect what choices are going to work for you. It's not one size fits all. We’re never telling somebody they have to go vegetarian or have to become a vegan,” she continues. ”It’s not about that. You can shift toward eating more plants but still eat a hamburger once in a while. It doesn't have to be this ‘either/or’ decision.” 

“One of the things that surprised me most when we started talking about that shifting norms piece,” O’Neill says, was that “a lot of people are having these sort of eureka moments where they say, ‘My gosh, I get it now. I understand how to post about this on Facebook,’ or ‘I understand how to talk about this with my husband now, or my boss, because now I know how to talk about this while being enthusiastic.’” O’Neill points out that most people in the world want the same things: clean air, healthy kids, healthy food, and clean water, to name a few. “We might have different ideas about how we get there, but people across the board care about those things,” she says.

What You Can Do: Talk about Climate Change!
Helping people understand their sphere of influence in their professional and personal social circles, and teaching them to communicate their enthusiasm, is a critical piece of the puzzle, says The Carbonauts’ Meaghan O’Neill. “Being an influencer isn't about having 10,000 followers on TikTok. It’s just as much about influencing the people that you have dinner with every night, the people who you go out for drinks with after work, people you are on a regular text thread with — those are the people you have the most influence over,” she explains, adding that she understands why people are often tight-lipped about climate change when the topic has been increasingly polarized and politicized, especially on social media. But there are ways to do it effectively without creating conflict, she says.

Be enthusiastic. Excitement breeds excitement. If you're jazzed about signing up for a green power program with your utility, tell people! 

Be helpful. Help other people do things you've already accomplished: Share your composting method or tips for reducing food waste.

Ask questions. Asking for help from others is another terrific way to share. Say you decide to try a vegetarian diet for 30 days. Your Facebook page may be a great place to ask for delicious new recipes.

Don’t be shy. Bring up what you're doing, actions you're taking, and why.

Don’t be preachy. No one likes to be told what to do. Instead, for example, describe how your new electric vehicle works and what took getting used to. Don’t judge others — everyone comes from different circumstances. Model great eco-behavior, but don’t look down on others who aren’t there yet.